This is Diane our shepherdess. As you may expect Diane usually looks after our sheep, but she also looks after some of our calves when they need hand-rearing.
This calf is in that position, she was a twin and it is often necessary to hand rear a twin if the mother cow is unable to provide enough milk for both calves.
When a cow has twin calves, the demand for milk is higher than usual, and if the cow is not producing enough milk, both calves may not receive adequate nutrition. Hand-rearing then becomes very important for the welfare of the calves and involves feeding the calf with milk replacer or colostrum using a bottle or bucket.
